Fujifilm FinePix T560 (R2 000)
Relatively new onto the South African market, the FinePix T560 is one those compact cameras that shouldn’t be judged on it size, but rather its capabilities. While it may look like a timid image capturer, it is everything but that. Easy to use, lightweight and with a small frame, it will make for an easy accessory to any day out.
Handling
As mentioned with the previous two cameras in our super test, these little cameras are not exactly built for, and dare we say, manly hands. But it is the trade-off that has to be made with compact cameras – small size will invariably have small buttons and settings. But with that said, the buttons on the back-end are almost flush with the body, so there is no need to actually press them very hard, which helps. While there is no dedicated Movie record button, the Shutter, zoom controls and Power button is situated on the top end. The back houses the rest of the controls that you would expect: Playback, Selector and Review button. For basic use, it’s perfect as there are no frill or fuss – everything is where it should be and the menus are easy to get around.
Image quality
The 16 million pixels image sensor produces some really great images. While it is not as much as the Nikon COOLPIX S3600, it has a number of advantages over it. The high end of the ISO stretches up to 3200, meaning that low-light images will clear enough. But with that comes a degree of noise on the images, something which invariably can’t be overcome without a little bit of technical help. But for all other situations there is the Automatic Scene Recognition to make things easier. The camera’s Macro made brings subjects closer, but it could struggle sometime to get the subject in perfect focus. Speaking of bringing things closer, the 12x Optical zoom is decent, but there will be some image quality loss when making use of the 24x Intelligent Digital zoom. Also, to help with image quality, it has a lens shift-type Optical image stabiliser.
Performance
In general, the Fujifilm FinePix T560 performs well under most circumstances, with a decent zoom and 16 million pixels image sensor. The 3.0-inch LCD monitor is slightly larger than most compact cameras, which definitely helps when reviewing images. What’s also great about the FinePix T560 is that you can edit images on the camera, things like crop and redeye removal. On the largest setting, images should be around 4 608 x 3 440, which is big enough to enlarge at a photographic store. Users have a wide range of shooting modes and scenes to select from, which always makes things easier for inexperienced photographers. A generous battery is also included in the package, and going at full tilt you should get about 230 images out of a single charge – that’s more than most. And users shouldn’t be afraid to take the FinePix T560 wherever they go, as scratches and dings won’t show up as easily on the hard plastic body.
[symple_column size=”one_half”] [symple_box] “Small but powerful.”[/symple_box] [/symple_column][symple_box] Rating: 3.5 Stars [/symple_box]
